I am writing a separate entry for 3 Rivers Eco Lodge because one of the take awayÂ’s that Jem (Jim) the owner tries to impress on to visitors is that you donÂ’t have to go to extremes to positively impact the environment, rather he feels that by educating visitors while on vacation and when they return home, they do one action that they would not have done prior to visiting him, that would be enough. Its all about small, sustainable steps. For me, this is my step.

Coming from a business background, I looked at JemÂ’s business and tried to break down what the business stood for. One thing I have learned is that if you do not know what the goals you are trying to accomplish, there is no reason to put anything into action. Jem, in his three years of operation has done that, at least from my perspective. This is coming from a few informal conversations, a few eavesdroppings into his conversations, the manner in which he has his operation organized, and from the literature he provides throughout the property. Here is my break down:

25% is the coveting of the ecology/eco system. Without it, who would want to come to his lodge. It is definitely the jungle, and natural terrain that attracts visitors to his business.

25% is the providing of tourists an interesting and educational environment that in turn provides funding for his business. An example is that his Lodge could be placed anywhere and would do well because his customer would receive good customer service, a clean and organized facility, and a well educated, pleasant staff.

25% is the cohesion between the environment and his tourist accomodations. It would do no good for him if he destroyed the local habitat by tearing it down and over building, or using harmful/damaging chemicals from the day to day business that in turn would destroy the local habitat. He has done this by creating and implementing alternative energy supplies like, solar power, natural based pesticides/deterrants, a truck that runs on used cooking oil, etc.

25% is the education of not only the people who visit his establishment, the employees who work there, but also the locals that live on the island. He spends an exhorbinant amount of effort working with the local people on developing better energy sources that will improve their lives and that of the environment. An example of this is the non-interest financing that he is working on for the locals to install hydro rams in the local river to produce their own pollution free power. He has also started to expand his teaching base Internationally as well.

All four of those factors in and amongst themselves are a challenge. What Jem and his crew at 3 Rivers have done is to implement them in a way that they are all being met at the same time. He has not settled on achieving three out of the four elements when he initiates something. If all four are not met, then a different solution needs to be identified. I personally was very impressed with the entire operation and how far he and his crew have accomplished.

One of the reasons why I am comfortable in saying that the operation is good is because of the owner Jem. In business, you find that most often the business is run as well as the top person lives it. If the leader does not care, the business will show it. With Jem, from the moment you meet him you will see the passion he has for what he does. Ask him anything about what is going on at the Lodge and he will answer you in a demeanor of someone who is excited about it. I guess passion is the best way to describe Jem when it has relations to 3 Rivers or the Ecology.
My interesting points after staying at 3 Rivers:

-If you want to get back to the wilderness, this is the place to go. You are miles from the nearest paved road. The grounds are surrounded by the jungle. There are hiking trails that you can take right from the camp. Many others are a hitch hike, bus, or taxi away. There are four rivers with tons of little or big swimming pools to take a cool refreshing jump in.

-The water is fresh and clean. Drinkable right from the streams. They are cool but not cold like you would get if the water was runoff from the snow packed mountains. Nothing like a morning rain to freshen things up. No wonder the whole place is so green it rains every day. Short and sweet then its over.

-Although you are away from the city, it is still rather easy to get around by renting a car there or at the airport, buses, and even hitch hiking (this was the most pleasant way since you got to meet some of the locals.) I was adopted by Bam so I went with him a lot on his adventures.

-The south side has the best hiking destinations. Although there are beaches, the hikes are where you will see things that are no where else.

-The dogs at camp are a great addition. They are fun to watch, they like to go on the hikes with you, and they will be silent companions while you just lay around reading a book. They will be friends forever if you just give them a pet. They are naturally laid back and wonÂ’t even beg for food. If you are nice to them, they will sleep on your patio waiting for you to get up in the morning. There are cats as well, but they just sleep all day. The chickens and roosters provide some excitement occasionally especially when the one dog chases after them.

-Surprisingly there arenÂ’t very many bugs and animals. There are no poisonous animals or insects on island. I was very wary about mosquitos, but sleeping out every night and never got bit. I actually only got two bites from no-seeums down by the beach at sunset. Every night the fireflies came out and lit up the gardens. Even hiking, the only thing that were out was the occasional lizard and the common land crabs. ItÂ’s a outdoorsy place that even a very skittish person would like.

- Food was excellent and the 7:00 community dinners were everybodyÂ’s favorite. Fresh fruit means someone walks out into the garden and cuts it up for dessert. There are tons of local fruits to be bought from all the little towns. Fresh fruits line the streets just hanging on the vines.
No tvÂ’s, radios, stereoÂ’s, just peace and quiet. Bring a book or borrow one of theirs and relax. You definitely need down time after the long hikes.

Accommodations for ever budget and expectations. For the most basic you can rent a camping spot or rent one of their tents. Bring or rent a hammock. Share a dorm room style cottage like I did, rent out one of the stand alone cottages, or go deep in the jungle and rent out the tree house.

Overall, it was a breath of fresh air for me. If youÂ’re a five star deva, I would probably not suggest it, but if you are at all attracted to the environment or enjoy camping in the outdoors, this is the place. Dominica in itself is still off the beaten path, but just like anything, you better take advantage of it now before its gone.

3 Rivers Eco Lodge,
Newfoundland Estate,
Rosalie,
P.O. Box 1292,
Commonwealth of Dominica
West Indies.

I ended up that night doing some writing, reading about Martinique, and planning my following day when places would be open.

1) Get some cash.
2) Find a power adapter so I can get my computer up.
3) Lunch with Vinnie
4) Type in my new entries
5) Get some drinks and food
6) Upload the new entries at the internet café.
7) E-mail the fax number for Citibank so that Travis can fax in my Chase cc statement. Find Busta Rhymes to make sure he is taking me to the airport.
9) Find Sparrow to see if he is doing the crawdad/crab hunting tonight since I could not go last night.
10) Get my stuff all packed and ready for tomorrows 5:30 am exit to the airport.

Even on this trip Bam kept us a breast on the Rastafarian culture, the history of some of the land marks, and a few off the beaten path trails that we had to do the next time we visited. Once we got into town we headed off to a local bookstore to replace a book that got rained on, headed over to the main hotel of the city to pick up some stamps, and then over to the favorite eating place to have some fresh squeezed local juice that I forgot the name of. We sat and talked for about an hour and then decided it was time to go. They dropped me off at the bus stop and said our goodbyes. Bam was debating on taking the two the forty-five minute drive south but I’m not sure what they did.

I grabbed a collective bus which waits until it is filled up and then takes the long drive up to Portsmouth. I was much happier at paying this $8 EC ride or about $3.10 US. With our van loaded to the gills with the 12 of us, we were off. I originally had arranged through Jem a place to stay outside of Portsmouth which would be a bit cheaper however, I could never get in touch with the people. By the time I arrived in Portsmouth I learned that the place was half way between the two cities and I would have to go half way back. I decided to find a place in town. The only budget place listed in the guidebook was closed for the weekend because of the death of a sister. Being such a small town, it also affected me in that a lot of the businesses closed down to go to her funeral as well as being closed on Sunday. I was quickly becoming homeless. I wandered down the main street to see if there was a hotel or something but the only place open wanted $40. The lady just happened to be there next door when I walked by so she showed me what she had available. I was trying to find inexpensive places so I figured I could find one somewhere else. I found the guy who bussed me up to Portsmouth and he gave me a lift checking out the places he knew. All of them were beach side resorts wanting $75 to $100 and on up. I was getting pissed. The problem is that Portsmouth is a medical college town where upwards of a 1000 students stay and go to school. All the local places are set up as either long term apartments or holiday resorts. I went back to the original place in town but the lady was gone to the funeral. I was truly bummed. The taxi driver had saw someone at the corner and quickly ran them down. He came back and said that he found me a place for the $40 a night. I’m sure they wanted less, but I wasn’t going to argue. The place turned out to be a lower unit of a house that was vacated because the previous med student had just graduated. I took my bags inside and I was set. The place was a fully furnished two bedroom one bath unit. The owners lived on the upper level and another Med student lived in the unit next door. The apartment is located just at the edge of town about a ten minute walk to the city center. It is right on the major road so it is very easy to pick up a ride into town. The place turned out to be a perfect lay out for me. My neighbor even stopped by to say hello thinking that he was meeting his new MD neighbor, but happy none the less to meet me, all adventurous and all. We sent up a tentative meeting for the next day to grab some food or get a drink. I was interested to hear about this medical thing going on in the island.

Before I forget, Portsmouth is Dominica’s second largest town which sits on the banks of Prince Rupert Bay. Portsmouth was originally chosen to be the Island’s capital but because of outbreaks of malaria and yellow fever, it was moved to Roseau. I would say that it’s a very laid back beach town not so totally affected by tourism. The major college there is Ross University.

It was getting late so I hiked it into town to get some supplies. I stopped by one of the little grocery stores to pick up some sodas and snacks. Most of the businesses were closed so the town was pretty quiet. I met a lady selling grilled chicked on the street so I bought a piece. On the way home I noticed a little Spanish cantina across the street blaring some tunes and headed in. It was just like walking into the bars in South America. I grabbed a beer (yup, first one in seven years,) had a seat and got some chicken and chips to go. I got my food, walked across the street to my apartment, ate, and passed out.

Come back to these pages later and I should have some pictures uploaded. As long as I get some internet access to post them in Martinique.

After some heavy hikes it sometimes takes the body a day or so to recover. With Bam being wounded, we all voted on doing a easy day. We had another omelette morning albeit a bit later. I had waken up at six and went on a short hour long hike to a local fall in the property to the back of the camp. I had not gotten actual directions to the falls but rather had overheard Jem speaking about them. After a few paths ending up face to face with a wall of vegetation I gave up. The path did take you through the neighbors Banana farm which also house some Coconut trees, Limes, Grapefruits, Papayas, Scotch Bonnet peppers, and of course Bananas. Upon arrival back at the camp, everybody was there so we had breakfast together. We just lounged around for a while and then I asked Jason and Katie if they wanted to go and try to find the falls again. I packed up some fruit from the market and we headed off. I lent Jason my other digital camera so they could take back some digital pics. After a few tries we found the correct path (follow the river up,) and came upon the falls. They were small but were made up of six different cascades and pools with a small but deep pool at the bottom. Jason and I did some climbing and headed up to the higher pools. Katie hung back and took a swim. When we were done we headed back to the main river and kicked back by the bridge. I had brought some bananas, mangoes, and a pineapple. The Pineapple ended up crushing the other two but the Pineapple made up for it. I showed them how I was a veteran at dissecting them. We chomped the whole thing down quickly and lazed along the bridge just soaking our worn out feet. Back at camp I took them to the second bigger pool where we did some more swimming. Katie and Jason decided to go back to the cabin to relax and I went to find Bam. He had his foot all wrapped up in a combination of bandaids, garbage bags, and torn up fabric. Even with his foot jacked up he was ready to go. I headed up to my cabin to shower, change, and take a five minute nap in the hammock. After that we were off to check out some property he was researching.

We drove the five plus miles down to a black sand turtle nesting site that Bam occasionally visited. We then drove to the surrounding area of the village La Plaine. We took a side road in about a mile and then hiked another two miles or so until the farmland ended and the jungle took over. We climbed up and down the mountain trying to find access to the the main river that ran below in the valley. After a few hours of hiking we turned around and headed back. It was a few hours to dinner and my easy day turned into another strenuous day filled with a lot of mini hikes. I slept solidly for an hour in the hammock. Got up around seven and headed down to dinner. For dinner that night we had a spaghetti type dinner that was made with these thin noodles somewhat Chinese style. There was a terrific meat sauce filled with vegetables. All the hiking made these hardy meals magnificent. As a surprise, Sheshe had made up come cake with chocolate frosting which when we voted for fresh fruit or cake, the cake was voted in unanimously. Everybody had a semi-relaxing day and the tolls of the week were catching up with everybody so we did another semi-late night after having some drinks including some freshly made Pineapple wine.

Come back to these pages later and I should have some pictures uploaded. As long as I get some internet access to post them in Martinique.

Woke up refreshed and surprisingly feeling no pain, I headed on down to breakfast. I am usually not one for breakfast or lunch, but with the extreme amount of exercise I was getting, I did not want to bonk out like the days before. For breakfast we were served omelets over bread with sides of tomatoes and cucumbers. We had glasses of fresh squeezed juices as well. Katie an Jason were going to do the strenuous Volcano hikes with a guide so Bam and I hopped into his car and took off. During the course Bam gave me a guides knowledge of all the local sites on the way as well as some interesting tidbits about himself. He is an extreme outdoors man, living in a off the beaten path area of Nantucket. He and his wife live in a somewhat self sustaining community where they lived similarly as 3 Rivers with the rigors of transportation, fuel sources, water, etc. He had picked Dominica as his own personal vacation spot because of the immense nature characteristics of the island, even though it was not the choice of the rest of the family. He had actually came down this week on his own to do some research. As I spent more time with Bam I was not only impressed with his knowledge of the island and its flora and fauna, but also because of his immense knowledge of general history. If we had questions about the island he was able to speak to it, not only because of his first hand experience, but also through the research he did by reading and researching on the net. He was even knowledgeable about the scientific name of the many different species in Dominica. The other thing that I came to admire about Jem was that he had a well defined path about what his life was going to be about. He had his passions, and his hobbies all figured out and was living them. That is something that I need to work out and hopefully will as this trip progresses/ends.

After an hour or so of driving we dropped into town. Roseau is the capital of Dominica with about a third of the population living around town. I found it to be a sleepy port town that had that little bit of novelty charm to it. It was in no way at the overly done, tourist trap like in St. Thomas. Jem was needing to stop in at a realtors office and to make some calls. We planned to meet a hour later so it gave me time to check out the city. It was not a Cruise ship day so the streets were relatively quiet. The streets are lined with small shops selling pretty much everything that you could think of. There werenÂ’t a lot of pushy merchants so it was a nice place to wander about. I found the local produce market so was extremely happy that I could find my beloved ripe bananas. After a while I wandered back towards a restaurant JemÂ’s wife liked and met up with Jem. I ordered a sandwich for my upcoming hike and had some passion fruit juice for a quick energizer. We talked a bit more and decided to head up the mountain to where I would begin my hike. We stopped at his usual place to stay and met up with some of his friends. We picked up our park passes and continued up the hill. Jem decided to do the Boeri Lake trail with me (his favorite work out trail,) and then walk to the Fresh Water Lakewhere we would split up and I would continue on down the mountains and to Rosalie at the ocean and back to camp while he drove back down and hit some of his watering holes for some swimming. We hiked the Boeri trail and arrived a half an hour later at the cloud covered lake. It was actually the most mystical of the lakes that were around with the clouds blowing through every few seconds. The lake was Emerald color and dropped some 130 ft. The wind was breezy and cool which after that hike I needed. The other thing I learned about Jen is that even while walking on a lacerated foot, smoking a cigarette, he can kick my ass up and down those trails. God I am out of shape or Ethiopians also come in slightly oversized, white skin. After a quick breather we headed down the hill and over to the adjoining mountain side. Fresh Water lake was just a regular lake that was slowly being turned into a cruise ship drop off point with Recreation center and kayak rental. We quickly passed by there and headed down the trail. After a few turns Jem and I went our separate ways. I walked alone in this beautiful serene environment. Walking through trails along the cliff side that plummeted thousands of feet below. More than two thirds of the walk was through vegetation covered paths where sun nor rain could make it through. There was spectacular views and many little falls and creeks that churned their way down. After about three hours of trekking I reached the little town of Grand Fond. From their it was windy road walking the last two miles to the ocean. From there another mile back up to 3 Rivers. In total it was about a 7+ mile walk through fantastic evergreen jungle, sleepy villages, cliffside views, rivers, and finally the ocean. It had rained most of the day and I was drenched the whole time, but it just made the day more refreshing.

I arrived back to the lodge about 5:30 which gave me an hour and a half to take a dive in the pool, take a shower, and a quick hammock nap before dinner. That night we had the soup again but this time Jem had picked up some nice fresh Tuna steaks so we had those in the soup/stew, that was followed again with the fresh fruit mix in which I added some Mangoes and Papaya that I picked up at the market. I found out that day as I was doing my walk that Bam had gone down to the river to his favorite swim hole and accidental stepped right on a broken bottle severely cutting his foot.

With everybody doing an extensive hike we had an even earlier night than usual and promptly went to bed by nine.

Katie and Jason had invited me the previous day to join them on a walk to the Emerald Pool. The Emerald Pool is one of the main tourist attractions of the island and attracts a large amount of traffic, especially days on which there were a cruise ship. Because of confusion in reading the directions from the camp, we underestimated the distance to the entrance to the Falls. To ensure that we made it their safely, the camps dogs (four of them,) and a neighbors dog, who tagged along, came on the walk as well. What was supposed to be a 15 minute walk turned to an hour and a half with no end in site. We did see some beautiful, picturesque views, however, the walk was turning into a trek. Luckily, a local guy in a truck must have wondered what a bunch of tourists with a pack of dogs was doing walking way out in the middle of nowhere. He asked if we wanted a lift and we eagerly accepted. At the time, the dogs had gone into the jungle so we pretty much left them there. They were all veterans of this part of the island so they just headed on home. We arrived a few minutes later to the entrance to the falls. What we agreed upon once arriving there is that the time schedules given by the tourist guys are timed with a Ethiopian Olympic award winner being used as a judge of time and distance. After showing our two dollar Natural Parks site pass, we went through to the Emerald Pool.

The Emerald Pool is a forty foot water fall located in the lush green forest. It was deep enough for a relaxing swim and an invigorating water massage. It created an excellent rejuvenating setting after a long, hot, uphill walk. We hung out for about a hour and decided to split up. They were headed into Roseau, the islands capital. For me, the first thing I like to do when I get to someplace new is to walk around the area in which I would be staying. At the main road we split company and I started the long walk back. I was originally hoping to just hitch hike back but there just wasn’t any traffic that day. About half way home, a family pulled over and gave me a ride back. Right off the main road to 3 Rivers, you can follow the river upstream to another waterfall and pool. It is about an hours worth of rock climbing and wading, but when you get there you are treated to a off the beaten track water fall. I relaxed there for a few minutes and headed back down stream. Another hour back and I was back on the main road. About this time, the legs started to protest. I could feel the unused muscles starting to cringe in protest. I figured a nice dip in the river “bath” would slow the onset of pain and give me a much needed cooling off. Well, I chose the wrong path and ended up at the entrance to the trail that takes you up to the “treehouse.” The treehouse is an actual treehouse that you can rent out just like one of the cottages. It was a good half an hour walk (especially when you are in pain,) located at the top of the hill in a very woodsy area. It’s a rather large one room house built with bamboo and supported by the four corners with four actual trees. There is a nice walk way patio, and a staircase. Inside is a nice leaf padded bed. There is even a separate water tank which accumulates rain water. A portable battery pack and your belongings can be carried to the remote area. After checking that out, I needed a break. I double stepped my way down at a cripples pace. Took the right path and found the large pool they call the “Bath”. Did a half hour of splashing about and hoofed it down stream to another large pool on the side of a cliff face. I figured that I had gone that far, so I followed the river until it came back around to the main road.

For that whole day, I had only my water for energy. I had not ordered any food so it was a long tough day. By the end I was becoming delirious with hunger. I could feel my fat cells being devoured. I had cravings for the first time in a long time. My mind was set on bananas and granola bars. Out of everything, for some reason those were the two that made my stomach growl. Along the bananas trees I had come upon a patch of pineapples. None of the islands bananas stay on the tree long enough to ripen because of shipping times so I stared at that little grenade of vitamin C. Looking at that piece of fruit fogged over my cravings for the bananas and I knew what I had to do. I grabbed the pineapple by its body and gave it a quick tug. It snapped off the stem rather easily. I slowly dragged my decrepid body with my defenseless hostage up the hill to my room where the hammock lay dangling, a site that I had also been craving for. I got out my little multi-tool and flipped open the knife. I had never operated on a pineapple before, but had seen it done on TV before. Once I learned how easy it was to cut into that little sweet body of love, it was over. I sucked down that whole pineapple in less than five minutes. The hunger pangs were quenched with must be the most refreshing of fruits. I looked up and saw the hammock and took a breath of relief. I woke up from my nap at around six feeling a bit frisky, so I headed down to the main lodge to ask Jem if he thought that it would be possible to make it to the ocean and back by seven. He said sure. Without me remembering that I was being compared to a gold medal winning Ethiopian, I jogged off into the sunset. Forty five minutes later I finally saw the ocean in the distance. I looked at my watch and the realization that I was not black, weighed 100 lbs, and had lungs like a horse. I did a quick jaunt to the turn off to the beach access and called it a close enough. I turned and slowly started walking back up the undulating hill sides, in the dark. With the help of my flashlight and the neighbors dog who came to fetch me, I made it back.

At dinner, I met Bam (Bom) who had just arrived. He was an older statesman in his late forties early fifties. Bam turned out to be an excellent guide who helped to make my trip an amazing one as well as very educational. He had been to Dominica a few times, staying at a different village in the central area. He had rented a four wheel drive for his trip and was planning to go into town the next day and invited me along. I had planned on visiting the capital but was doubtful because of the distance and cost. We sat down to an amazing meat and potatoes dinner. The plate was full of exotic, home grown, vegetables and some amazing tasting roasted beef. Dinner was followed by another plate of watermelon and pineapples.

With all of us doing some sort of trek, we called it an early evening after a little after dinner conversation and drinks.

Again I tried the hammock but was awakened in the middle of the night so I dragged myself into bed where I slept like a log.

Come back to these pages later and I should have some pictures uploaded. As long as I get some internet access to post them in Martinique.

Stopped at the entrance way to the airport to drop off the hoopdy mobile. It was then that I got to experience the unpreparedness of my packing style. Heaving that pack was a little bit of a shock. Adding my book bag that contained all of my electronics gear easily doubled that weight. This was not good. With my backpack strapped to my back and the book bag positioned in the front, I became as wide as I am tall. It was kind of like being pregnant, twice. The first hundred yards were fun and I was energetic about it. The last quarter of a mile became a tad bit strenuous. Had I been able to lean over to take the packs off, I would have waited for a taxi to take me the last hundred feet. No, Steve was not in shape.

Having flown out of STT a dozen or more times, check in was fast and easy. I was however flagged to have the full pat down security shake down. The lady nervously approached me about this, but having some conspicuous stamps in my passport I have long gotten over the stress of the special treatment I get at these and most customs areas. I’ve been lucky enough to get to view quite a few of the different interrogation rooms around the world. I guess it’s a Fresno thing. There is no other hot bed of terrorism than the central valley of California. After a a 30 minute search and body rub (not the good kind), I was off to meet my co-island hoppers.

My flights took me to St. Martin, Antigua, a layover in Guadeloupe and then finally Dominica. What started out in a decent prop plane with a cute stewardess and locked flight cabin, turned into a three seat across puddle jumper which we shared with the two pilots/stewardesses. Lest it be known, no drinks were served. I actually think the co-pilot flew much of the flight with his leg dangling out the door like you would on a open Jeep. The views of all the different islands with the lit up emerald water were mesmerizing so I pretty much slept through the whole thing. One thing to know about me is that I: 1) can take a nap anywhere, and 2) I like naps. Actually, the title of this blog was going to be “All the cool places that I have been- and slept right through them.” The landing in Dominica however, was more like a WWII fighter game so I didn’t quite get to sleep there. The differences of this island even from the air were astounding. Even though I am quite a bit of a jaded island hopper, this island definitely had a rough edge to it. Once we ended the little bit of airplane juggling we bounced down and headed to the airport. How I was treated here was a total reversal from the STT experience. Everyone else on the plane seemed to be local so they pretty much ran to baggage claim so they could get through customs the quickest. I on the other hand, having a couple of years to waste walked as such. Once I got my bag and headed through to customs there were probably a dozen people ahead of me. The single Customs agent must have spotted me because he started handing out the customs declaration forms to the people in front of me and telling them to move away from the counter while they were filling it out. Once it got to me I expected to be handed a form, however, he took my passport and started to fill out the form for me. Once he got my information he thanked me, smiled, and sent me on my way. It was so nice I sort of felt awkward at the special treatment, but I figure it was a trade off for my cavity search at STT.

I had yet to figure out where I would be staying because the place that I originally planned on staying had quoted a $50.00 taxi fee to get there. That was already two days lodging budget right there, and I would not have even hit the ground yet. I talked to the Tourist agent and she gave me a couple of options but they looked way out of my price range. While standing there in kind of a daze, a lady walked up and told me that there were guys expecting me. I was totally confused since the original place that I had inquired about said they would not be able to arrange airport pickup. The lady took me to her car rental booth where I was getting more confused. I told here that I would not be wanting to rent a car. She told me to wait a moment as she raced to the parking area to see if these “guys” were still there. She later came back saying that they had just left. I was starting to get a tad bit anxious at that moment so I told her that there must be some mistake since no one was expecting me, she must have me confused with some other guy from Fresno. She dug through some papers and asked if I was Steve Nakano. That threw me off a bit, but what she had said that there was a taxi driver who had just dropped off some passengers from the 3 Rivers Eco Lodge where I had been planning on staying and that the owner had told the driver to check to see if I had come in. They had only checked America Airlines since that is the way most tourists came in not knowing that I had flown in with LIAT. She called the owner on the phone who contacted the taxi driver to come back to get me. I waited for about a half an hour and a couple of guys, cheerful as all, grabbed my bag and we headed off.

Dominica, the ‘Nature Island of the Caribbean,” promotes itself as a non-tourist destination for outdoor adventurers. Although, an even rougher island experience was not what I was looking for, this island totally took me off guard. The island is a independent republic within the British Commonwealth, and the main language is English based. Dominica is 29 miles long and 16 miles wide. The highest peaks in the Caribbean are found here as well as many active volcanoes. The prior is all para-phrased from the Lonely Planet Caribbean book. Steve’s description would be an island where jungle grows on the sides of a bunch of cliffs. Tarzan wouldn’t have faired so well here since his swinging would last all of two feet before he ran face front into a mass of vegetation. I was totally taken a back by the freshness that this island brought. It oozed prehistoric/truly natural environment. I had for the first time in a long time, gotten off the tourist track.

After a hour and a half of wild left-hand, passing cars on a one lane road, get you car sick roads, we pulled up to the encampment of 3 Rivers Eco Lodge. They are situated in the south east part of the island bordering the Morne Trois Pitons National Park (A Unesco World Heritage Site) and the little seaside village of Rosalie. Off the main road it is another mile plus of off-roading, river crossing, dirt road driving that takes you to the camp. By the time we got there I thought the fifty dollar taxi fee was a bargain and ended up giving the guy $60. He did take me to a favorite road side stand for some fried chicken since I had not eaten that day. There I met up with Jem (Jim), the owner of the Lodge. He had a hippi facade to him with bare feet, old shorts, and raggedy t-shirt, which was somewhat fitting for what the lodge promotes itself as. He brought me inside and got my info and welcomed me to the camp. He took me on a little stroll telling me a bit about the place and to show me where my shared dorm room would be. I had just arrived when two of the guys staying there had left and the third was moving into one of the private cottages. I was going to have the largest room in the compound to myself for the least price. After I dropped off my pack, Jem had one of his assistants take me on a tour of the surrounding areas, the different lodgings, the three surrounding rivers, the bathing pool, he explained to me how the lodge pulls its water and creates its own power. He also showed me the astonishing amount of plant life that they had planted and labeled to improve the knowledge of the campers. After about a hour tour, he led me back to my room where I had about a hour of relaxation time before the group gathering for dinner. That hour I unpacked my stuff, took a quick shower to cool off, took a deep relaxing breath and hit the hammock for a much needed swing.

Around 7:00 pm I headed down to the main lodge where dinner was to be served. There I met up with Jason and Katie a twenty something, newly married couple (well, a year ago, but they had eloped so they were on their actual honeymoon.) They had been there about four days and were very helpful in giving me a run down on what to expect. They turned out to be great travel companions and camp buddies. This trip, although meant to be something more for my own benefit was also about getting a chance to meet new and exciting people whom I would probably not get a chance to. Meeting them really helped to solidify my reasons for taking this trip. A few minutes later the other pair of guys that were staying there showed up. One was an Aussie and the other an English fellow who had businesses in Dominica. The Aussie fellow was actually being wooed to take the job there in Dominica. Both were the usual European characters taking shots at the US and having a go at each other. For dinner we had a fantastic local soup/stew that a local lady Sheshe (sp) had whipped up for us. That was followed by plates of fresh cut fruits for dessert. We ended up pineing the rest of the night away just talking about a bit of everything. Slowly the group ended with Jem, the Aussie, and myself staying up to midnight just talking about all of our travels. We headed off to bed about 12:30 am. I tried to fall asleep in the hammock, but I could only doze off to be awakened in mid-sleep. I broke down and crashed on the bed, not remembering a thing until waking up refreshed the next morning.

Kind of long winded, huh. Well it was my first day and it has actually been almost a week since I had computer access (being out in the jungle, and not bringing a plug adapter.) It was actually a pretty action packed day. I am pretty sure I won’t be so in depth in the future. I figure by day fifty my logs will be: I woke up, I went to the beach, I ate, I went to sleep.